Delved on 5/15 rested 5/18, may take actions on 5/19.
PCs: John Redcorn III (cleric), Gwendolyn (bard)
This week our adventurers traveled in downtime with Lockleaf the Elven Ranger (hench Teutch) to the far west Teutchland, where they took the eccentric wizard up on some of his errands that seemed lucrative and did not look to require much sword slinging. Teutch’s (Patron Mage) openhandedness was offset by his bonkers nature, forcing the female Gwendolyn to sleep in the goat stable. Much sourness was expressed at his distrust of women, but whatyagondo.
Teutchland is a purple wonderland of purple wildflowers, purple tinted stone mountains, and a massive purple tower accented with darker purple lightning bolts. Teutch himself couldn’t be bothered to actually speak to those beneath him, which seems to be just about everyone, so he created a spell allowing him to flick floating text from his fingers at those he must communicate with. This caused many mocking hand gestures at the table, but the flavor is fun. I ruled that the font and color of the text changes based on his mood and who he’s talking to. He berates his servants in hazy red font, but is more professional albeit condescending with the adventurers.
Teutch has many diplomatic considerations in his immediate area, and this is where the adventurers focused their attention as it seemed less likely to resort to violence. They’ve had a tough run these first couple of sessions and needed a solid win. So off they flew to talk to Daniel the Storm Giant who is a mighty player in the local environment and Teutch really wants to be friends. They approached the massive floating castle as it loitered just above the ground with griffons patrolling the skies above it. Gwendolyn the bard began playing music to signal their peaceful intent as they approached. They were soon met by the Storm Giant, who became Daniel after a few jokes at the table. This is the way. (cont'd)
Reaction checks ruled the day, and apparently Daniel just absolutely loves music, so they’re invited inside, have a fantasia style dinner, and chill with the Storm Giant for several hours, wherein they also case the joint for a place that Teutch can ambush the Giant if, you know, he feels like it. They part ways having achieved a non-aggression pact with Daniel and return on their summoned pegasus mounts to get paid.
Teutch is impressed with their efficiency and has his servants pay them their due. The party sleeps it off then readies to take on the next challenge, casing the nearby Hill Giant lair and stealing the Scroll of Ward Against Elementals that they have, essentially their only protection against Teutch’s designs on their imminent demise.
Off they flew on summoned steed, arriving at the Hill Giants lair underneath a 300’ ruined stretch of aquaduct who were already Friendly with Teutch, so they all made sure to wear plenty of purple and Teutch made himself seen before flying off. The party quickly ingratiated themselves with the frat boy Hill Giants and their Chief Chad, witnessing their many foolish feats of strength and stupidity. The giants had quite a store of fine liquor that Chad was very protective over, but the party bought a barrel from him and then encouraged the giants to drink. Giants being giants they don’t all fall over drunk, but at least a few get pretty lit. Music was played, games were played, distractions were attempted, but they could not get a clean shot at the Scroll that was laid out in plain sight.
Here is where they gambled, choosing to stay the night with the Giants and allowing their steeds to dissipate. They had set a contingency for Teutch to come back in the morning, but he made it clear he would not rescue them from danger, thus risking himself in the process. They were able to steal the Scroll while the giants slept, sneak out of the giant lair, and hide in the nearby hills. Thankfully no random encounters and Teutch saw them in the morning to pick them up. Off they went, another successful mission, another payout, and a valuable Scroll in their possession. This also earned them a black bladed magic sword that Teutch would provide after two completed favors and Teutch’s grudging respect of Gwendolyn the bard, wherein she was now allowed to crash on one of the couches on the ground level of his tower.
Musings:
This was the first session with another active Patron. Where Lord Issac de Molay acts as a benefactor, healing wounds, providing a safe haven, and commiserating with the adventurers over their trials, Teutch the Alchemist is an uncaring bonkers madman who doesn’t seem to care if they live or die. Lord Issac is more conservative with his offered rewards, having the luxury of the party starting right in his town. Teutch has to lure them all the way out to his land with flashy cash and prizes, which so far he has delivered. But Teutchland is so far above the party’s punching weight that if initiative gets rolled, it could get messy quick.
I chose to introduce Fate Points (HFH) this session as a means to mitigate early PC death due to the small size of my table’s party. Running 2-3 players a session in the hyper lethal ACKS can be a bit demoralizing when the bodies pile up, so we’ll see if this can keep the rage to a simmer. This really solid session should level the two PCs that were present, giving them a small bit of breathing room and enabling them to perhaps tackle the next items on Teutch’s hit to-do list. Tune in next week to find out!
XP from Kills: 0
XP from Treasure: 3100
Total XP Pool: 3100
Cuts: 4 total with PCs receiving 2 each.
PC cut: 0%: 1550 5%: 1628 10%: 1705
Hench Cut: 0%: 0 5%: 0 10%: 0
No comments:
Post a Comment